Chapter Text
Amaririsu friends were normal. They are perfectly normal humans with strong powers but still very much normal. They weren’t like the goddess at all, they lacked the ethereal quality that Amy possessed, the heavy aura she excluded or the feeling of otherness. They were normal and they treated Amaririsu with the ease of ignorance but also love, fondness and a shared past that made it all the more evident how important she was to them.
It was also easy to see that she loved them greatly in return. It was in the way she teased them, in the way she let them tease her or the surprising temper that showed itself from time to time, but she never made a move to use her strength against them. Her aura never even twitched in the direction of threatening.
They were kind too. So, so kind to someone who had bathed the battlefields in blood. They were guarded, he could see that but Amaririsu declared him ‘under her protection’ with just a stubborn look at them and they caved right in. But being guarded didn’t mean they would be unwelcoming or unkind.
There were seven of them if you counted Amaririsu.
There was Ron, the one who knew everything about the truth and treated the goddess so casually.
Then there was Hermione, with eyes sharp, intelligent and stubborn tilt to her jaw who was very mothering towards both Amaririsu and Ron. Hermione was so different than anyone he had the pleasure of meeting with her very frizzy and curly hair. He thought that Amaririsu had crazy hair but it seemed this woman had it worse but it suited her quite endearingly. She too knew the truth but she had no fear towards the goddess, only fondness and sometimes exasperation.
Then there was Ginny, Ron’s sister. She was exuberant, opinioned and very social. Easy to get along with. She moved a lot, like she could not sit still and she used her hands to gesture as she was speaking. She seemed to adore Amaririsu like a friend but in her eyes, Minato could see the muted awe as she looked at the goddess. It was sweet, harmless and he could not see anything negative about it.
George was an older brother to both Ron and Ginny. He was another ginger and he had only one ear. He was slightly more muscular than his younger brother but also a bit shorter, though not by any meaning of the word, short. His eyes were both laughing and solemn, air of humor and sadness hung around him like a cloak. He seemed to enjoy teasing his friends, though sometimes it felt incomplete like he was expecting someone to do the fibbing with him. He was also the most protective of the group, giving Minato one hard, cold stare before it subsided into clear neutrality more tinged by kindness.
Luna reminded him of Yamanaka a little bit, with her pale hair and eyes that definitely saw more than anyone expected. She was calm, often quiet until she quipped something random into the conversation that seemed nonsensical at first but then after a moment would hit him deeply as he slowly would understand. She seemed content, just being there and basking in the presence of her friends. She was easily plastered to the goddess, a small smile on her lips and wonder tinged with distant grief every time her eyes landed on the girl who held her so kindly.
Neville was quiet too but in a more shy way, calm and more serious of the group. He looked at everything with deep thoughtfulness and openness. But when he spoke, he was listened to, when teased he teased back even if more gentle and the others looked at him with respect and the same, shared fondness. When he looked at the goddess he had this relieved but little sad expression but also so much worry.
With them, Amaririsu looked more human. Smiling, joking and having fun even if there was still something heavy on her heart but it was much less visible. It made her less scary, more approachable. Lovely.
Suddenly he caught the eye of Ginny who grinned at him like he just gifted her the best present possible with a mischievous undertone. It made him feel tense with a shiver on his back as he knew this expression. It was the same expression when Kushina had some idea for pranks or causing chaos in general.
‘Hey, Amy?’ Ginny called out to the other redheaded woman. ‘Why didn’t you bring Minato around sooner?’
The goddess stilled before looking at her friend with an unreadable expression that soon turned deadpan.
‘I knew you would be a tease and a pain in my backside.’ she said flatly.
Hermione and Ron both choked with surprise and looked between him, Ginny and Amaririsu. While the woman looked alarmed and a bit concerned, Ron looked delighted on the other hand and looked so very close to bursting into laughter.
‘Aww… Are you sure you just weren’t keeping your new friend all to yourself?’ Ginny asked with a shit-eating grin.
‘That does seem suspicious…’ George backed up his sister with a similar grin on his face. ‘Amy the recluse making friends doesn’t sound right. And not telling us? She can’t lie at all.’ he teased.
Amaririsu blushed and glared at the two.
‘I’m sure she had a reason.’ Neville attempted to placate everyone but he was smiling too.
‘She told me and Mione about it.’ Ron quipped cheerily. ‘Though it’s the first time we had the pleasure of meeting Minato, right?’ Ron then looked at him with amused and knowing eyes.
‘That’s true. Amy…’ Minato admitted with as calm voice as he could while adjusting the way he called the goddess to avoid more suspicions. ‘…has an interesting choice of friends and seems to have the talent to find the most interesting ones.’
‘Wow, you've known her for a few months and have her all figured out already.’ Hermione said drily but with underlying amusement. ‘Have you gotten the chance to experience her trouble-magnet tendencies?’ she asked with an innocent-looking smile.
Amaririsu gasped with mock outrage.
‘Betrayal!’ she cried dramatically. ‘Luna, you’re the only one I can trust it seems.’ she declared grandly to the blonde girl by her side.
The Yamanaka-looking girl smiled innocently, in a similar manner to the Hermione.
‘Oh Amy, you can’t be betrayed by the truth. And don’t you worry, your companion will learn all about your antics soon enough.’ she continued to smile angelically.
Amaririsu looked at him with a look that said ‘Can you believe them?’ and he couldn’t help himself from smiling with amusement at which she narrowed her otherworldly eyes at him.
But he didn’t look angry, just annoyed and exasperated. She reminded him of Fugaku when he needed to deal with the shared chaos caused by Kushina and Mikoto and that spoke volumes about the situation.
And as little as she interacted with Fugaku, they seemed to get along. There was a chance it would change in the future but to give the Uchiha a good first impression was something.
Seeing him unfazed, she only huffed and took a teacup and hid behind it, likely to hide but Minato noticed she was clearly pouting.
He sighed softly. She was just a woman with too much power and charisma, wasn’t she? A young woman with friends, family and a seemingly impossible alter-ego as a goddess, a young divine being as she was.
He looked at her friends, content, amused and feeling safe and he noticed Ron looking at him intently but without any negativity.
Then Ron smiled, the same knowing smile that Luna was smiling before like he knew more than any of them and the man winked at him.
Something was up, wasn’t it?
***
The last lecture was not much of a lecture, more like a practical lesson outside.
They were in an open courtyard and the grandeur of it reminded him of the palaces of the emperors or other rulers he had the pleasure or displeasure of seeing. The architecture was different, more focused on lasting through the ages. It seemed too grand for a school, too much.
Amaririsu nudged him in the side and gave him a concerned look.
‘Are you alright?’ she asked softly.
The others were organizing groups all around so at the moment they were alone, even if many curious gazes were on them.
‘Yes. Just thinking why a school is so…’ he trailed off, unsure which words wouldn’t offend her.
‘Opulent? Big? Steady?’ she quirked an amused smile.
‘Ah, yes.’ he admitted because it fit well enough.
‘It’s in the history. People with magic were hunted down at some point and while during the time the school was founded a thousand years ago, there was still unrest between magical and non-magical people.’ she explained. ‘The founders wanted the school to be a safe haven for all magical children and magical adults if needed as well. Most of those lands are suited for growing crops, there is fresh water, the hills and the forests are hard to cross without magic. So the school is reflecting that.’
Her voice was serious, with a hint of melancholy and something he could not discern.
‘That’s… rather amazing.’ he said honestly. ‘But why non-magical people would have anything against people with magic?’
‘Fear. Envy. Delusion about where the powers come from. Greed.’ she sighed heavily. ‘The magical side is not without faults either, at least I don’t think so. But the decision to remove ourselves, to let the time erase our existence was the right one. Though not all would agree with this sentiment.’
And he understood. The shinobi too had amazing abilities, great potential and power beyond normal people. But the shinobi dominated and monopolized it while those people chose mostly peaceful ways and hid.
Both options had their advantages and disadvantages. What was the ratio of magical people versus non-magical? Could a non-magical person learn to unlock magic like it could be done for civilians with chakra? How big was this world anyway?
‘Hey, how many people are in this world?’ he asked curiously and impulsively.
She looked at him then, a small furrow between her brows.
‘How much is in yours?’ she asks then instead,
‘Around five hundred million? Maybe?’ he mused but it seemed like an accurate number for the elemental nations when he would count all people, shinobi and civilians alike.
‘That’s…. Little.’ she scrunched up her nose. ‘Here it’s around six billion worldwide in non-magical records, magical records believe it’s closer to seven billion with something when you count all humans and non-human beings on our side.’
And for the second time this day, his thoughts halted altogether for a moment.
That… That was a ridiculously big number of people. How so many people could coexist? How can they produce enough food or have enough water to drink? How big was the land to accommodate all of that? The logistics of this would need to be insane.
She laughed merrily at his dumbfounded expression.
‘Don’t overthink it. I think this planet is bigger than yours and older too.’ she shrugged with a smile before bouncing away, leaving him on the side and watching.
From there it devolved into something more akin to group sparring as people groped themselves into four-person squads, spreading out all around the courtyard. He could see Ginny snagging Luna to her side, George pairing with Neville, Ron and Hermione leaning against each other and many other young people pairing up. Surprisingly among them were also older people, ranging from really old all the way to young adults.
Amaririsu looked at them with pride and she sported a small smile on her face, one fond, satisfied but there was something grieving in the way her shoulders dropped just a tiniest bit, the way her face flickered into a frown for barely a second.
‘All right, listen up!’ she called over all those people and to his slight astonishment, a total silence fell upon the group. ‘We’ll be doing a mostly fun exercise. You’re all in groups of four and then paired up. Every pair will have a defender and an attacker. You will duel each other, focusing on the role you’ve been given. The goal is to disarm or immobilize the opposing pair of your group. I don’t want to see anything permanently harmful, malicious or humiliating. Some laugh and embarrassment is fine like changing someone's hair hot pink, vanishing all their clothes will absolutely not be tolerated.’ she declared clearly, her voice carrying the easy authority of a war commander.
’ If I judge anyone crossing the limits, I will duel them personally and believe me I will make you miserable before sending you to the hospital wing.’ she threatened and looked among the people. Some shifted uneasily under her scrutiny but there were no defiant expressions that would spell any troublemakers.
It did seem like a fun challenge too, Minato thought. And if he were to do something like that with his friends, it would be a bit of a challenge too. Teamwork was one thing, but staying only on the defensive was a bit of a problem for them. But it could be fun.
‘Any questions?’ she asked.
Some older woman in the crowd raised her hand.
‘Why? It train dueling but it’s not like that when we’re in trouble or getting ambushed.’ the older lady asked politely but with lots of doubt.
‘Great question!’ Amaririsu smiled. ‘We’re all adults here or very close to adulthood. We know at least some spells. We all survived and we know how to look for the signs of danger. What some may lack is the confidence in acting in the face of danger.’ she answers seriously. ‘I can’t train you how not to freeze or get scared. I can’t make you learn to push through your fear. What I can do, is to make you comfortable in using the spells you know to your advantage, one way or another. You don’t need to be great at it. What you need is to survive and protect the ones you love.’ she smiles a little bit sadly and looks in the distance like she is looking somewhere no one can reach.
‘Running away may seem like cowardice too, but is it when it saves you and your family?’ Luna suddenly pipes up.
‘All we need to know is how to give ourselves an opening to do it. If we can win? All the better but it’s not the true goal.’ Ginny continues loudly and the crowd answers in a distinctly approving murmur.
Amy gave the two girls a thumbs-up and an encouraging smile.
‘Can we get a demonstration?!’ some man in his middle twenties asked from the back of the crowd.
Amy paused and then nodded.
‘Sure! Ron, Mione, you’re up!’ she called to her friends and then scanned the crowd until her gaze landed on a very short man who stood on the side, observing them closely. ‘Professor Flitwick, would you be so kind to pair with me?’ she asked with a charming grin.
Oh? That was interesting because he wouldn’t expect one of the professors to be afflicted with dwarfism but it could be his mentality.
In Elemental Nations there were rarely people affected with conditions like that. Shinobi clans were ruthless in eliminating genetic failures like that, as cruel as it sounded. It was getting a bit better with shinobi villages being more safe and secure but it was still a thing. Civilians outside the cities rarely had enough resources to care for such children either.
It was sad, in his opinion and he didn’t think he would do something like that, ever… but his reality was ruthless and being healthy and strong was of utmost importance, shinobi and civilians alike. The rural areas still weren’t as advanced as the cities, there was less access to medicine or doctors, healers and medics.
The small man smiled brightly at the goddess and came to her side.
‘It would be my pleasure, Miss Potter. And I good way to test my students!’ he said jovially but there was something probing directed at the other pair.
Hermione straightened and grinned. It looked almost feral, ready to accept the challenge head-on. There was no fear or nervousness, this woman knew she could rise to the expectations and was sure of herself.
Ron didn’t seem very nervous either, there was this quiet confidence in the way his body was relaxed, his movements unhurried and fluid. His eyes were steadily watching everything, calculating and serious.
The crowd seemed to watch with bated breath, expectations thick in the air. It reminded him of the way some of his troops watched him fight with Raikage and his brother during the war. The same way his ANBU watched him spar with Kushina, Jiraiya or Fugaku.
Those three were giants in the eyes of those people and the professor seemed to have some weight to his reputation as well, judging by the way some of the spectators exchanged excited looks.
The pairs moved to stand against each other, bowed to each other before taking their stances. It was very unfamiliar to him, a bit strange but then they all moved, like some unspoken command was given.
It was so far from the way shinobi fought but it was a different kind of poetry in motion.
Colored lights were sailing at each other, colorful shields, the rook coming to life and taking a hit for the one who made it move, sheets of ice guarding the combatants from the stream of fire. Lightning being thrown at each other, conjured animals attacking, sudden enlargement of the shoes that nearly made them fall.
They were fast. Fast to exchange attacks, fast to dodge, fast to react. Amaririsu was the one defending and it was beautiful, the way she would not only conjure shields or reflect the spells, she would bend the world around her to protect her and Professor Flitwick. She moved like she was at home, with the grace that wouldn’t be amiss on shinobi.
Her partner was not a slouch either. He was keeping Ron, who was defending, on his toes. The small man was fast, faster than the trio of friends, his attacks more subtle but fired at rapid fire that would keep quite a lot of his ninjas on their toes. When he did hit though, it was magnificent and distracting, like growing Rons’ and Hermiones’ hair so bad they would not see well, making them laugh forcefully, giving them a stumble or making them sing until Ron managed to cancel that out.
They weren’t speaking, just acting and moving and unlike shinobis, they had zero physical contact with each other. Just their powers against each other.
The smell in the air was becoming more sharp, tinged with ozone and static. It felt like small shocks were traveling over his skin and his instincts were telling him they were dangerous, but not a threat.
It was a stunning display of power.
And as he looked at Amaririsu, a small smirk on her face as she glanced at him he understood.
Be on good terms with me and it will be fine but cross a line, then my people are capable of being terrifying and they would follow my lead. I’m showing you part of my world but beware, I’m capable of making you regret any slights. I may be content playing harmless, polite and sweet but while different than you, I’m still a very sharp and dangerous blade.
He already believed he should stay on her good side but she only solidified that decision.
But he was shinobi.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. It was one of the lessons he learned over the years and he had a feeling he would feel like that with her for a very long time yet.